Origin and Habitat: Southern Chile, but also crosses the border into western Argentina at places.Habitat: Grows at very high altitudes of above 1500 m in extremely xeric regions of Patagonia mainly in volcanic ashfields in subalpine forests, thin grassland and stony plateaux.

Description: Plant forming large mats of cylindrical stems with small, succulent leaves and white spines, often consisting of hundreds of individual segments. It is small in size, and can reach 15 cm in height, but it can grow up to more than a meter in diameter.Leaves: The foliage is formed by a dense mass of dark green, cylindrical and almost needle-like leaves. It keeps its leaves in the winter.Flowers: Remarkably beautiful, large, soft, satiny, lemon-yellow.Blooming season: Late spring.

Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Mammillaria prolifera group

Mammillaria prolifera(Mill.) Haw.: (subsp. prolifera) has stems 6-7 cm in diameter, cream to pinkish yellow flowers and yellow spines. Distribution: throughout much of the Caribbean.

Mammillaria prolifera subs. haitiensis(K.Schum.) D.R.Hunt: has stems to 7 cm in diameter, cream-white-yellow flowers and more spines than the type species, giving it a more whitish appearance. Distribution: endemic of Hispaniola.

Notes: Closest relatives: Maihuenias are very strange and unusual cacti that in earlier literature were supposed to be related to Opuntia, Pereskia and Pereskiopsis, but DNA sequencing of this group has determined that Maihuenia is not related to any of those.

Cultivation and Propagation: Maihuenia poeppigii is an easy-to-grow plant, it is a surprisingly moisture-tolerant cactus, is said also to be reliably cold-hardy in central Europe and England. Of the two species Maihuenia poeppegii is the hardiest species and it can survive outside in the garden in the sunny rockery on a sheltered place, but only if it's protected with a sheet of glass during the wintertime. It is also very good for a large pot which can be stored inside an unheated greenhouse or on a balcony, somewhat protected from moisture during the winter, but is probably safest to grow it in the Alpine House or in a raised bed inside an unheated greenhouse all year around, with lots of ventilation.. It doesn't fear cold weather and it bears very harsh frost, and temperatures of around -10° (or less down to -20° if dry) degrees Celsius did not harm these plants at all. They should not be kept hot in summer as they are from high elevations. during the beautiful season it’s good to enrich the soil of our succulent plants; using a fertilizer rich in potassium and phosphorous, but poor in nitrogen, because this chemical element doesn’t help the development of succulent plants, making them too soft and full of water. For a balanced development, it is best to position the the Maihuenia poeppigii in a place where it is exposed to at least a few hours of direct sunlight. Water these plants only from time to time if grown outdoors, but it should be watered abundantly if grown in a pot or in the greenhouse, during the summer. The spring weather, with a high temperature swing between the day and night hours, and pretty frequent rains, can favour the development of fungus diseases, which should be treated pre-emptively with a systemic fungicide. We suggest repotting every 2-3 years.This species can also be grown anchored without soil on a roof (like for the sempervivums).